Technical Abstract:
During the last thirty years mass spectrometry has progressed from being a very specialized field of analytical chemistry, practiced by a limited number of spectrometrists, to become a valuable and popular tool that is widely used in fats and oils research and in many areas of medical and biological sciences. Currently, five modern types of mass spectrometry (GC-MS-Electron Impact, Electrospray, Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization and very recently Atmospheric Pressure Photoionization) have emerged as powerful user-friendly tools that are being employed by many lipid chemists and biochemists. This chapter will compare and contrast these methods. Other chapters in this volume will provide detailed information about applications of modern mass spectrometry methods to specific areas of fats and oils research. Recently, the new field of "Lipidomics" (lipid profiling) was born, and its inception has been credited to advances in mass spectrometry and informatics.